Windmill



W. A. WILSON.

} WINDMILL. APPLICATlON FILED APR. I5. 1919.

1,352,859. PatentedSept. 14,1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

In (/21: i0/

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

WALTER A. WILSON, OFYFELKHART, KANSAS.

wIivniv iLL.

To all whom it, may concern Be it known that I, WALTER A. WILSON, a citizen of the United States, residin Elkhart, in the county of Morton and tate of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Windmills; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to wind mills and has as its principal object the provision of a windmill wherein the rotating bladesare disposed parallel to the range of the wind and are so mountedas to feather after passing out-of the range of the wind so that a minimum resistance will be offered upon the ap roach ofthe bladestoward the wind.

vide an improved wind mill in which the weight is evenly distributed about a central supporting axis, so asto provide a well balanced construction.

A "further object of the invention is to provide an improved mill in which the'vanes are arranged to be brought parallel to the.

wind and to the tail vane, so as to effectively stop the operation of the mill during a high wind or if it is desired to stop the machinery operated by the mill.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved mill of theabove character which is adapted to be built on the ordinary tower thus requiring a non-expen sive structure to support the same.

Another object of the invention is to pro-- v vide an improved means'for automatically governing the rotationof the wind 40 ing lowand high winds.

wheel, sothat the uniform speed may be had dur- A still further object of the. invention is i to provide an improved wind mill ofthe abovecharacter, which is durable and efi'icient in use, one that is simple and easy to manufacture, and one that can be placed upon the market at a reasonable cost. I

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists inthe novel construction,

arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described,

claimed and illustratedin-the accompanying part thereof, in which;

drawings, forming a Figure 1 is a central vertical section through the mill,

v Fig-.2 is a top plan; view of the same,

' Secured to the 7 therefrom and Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept, 14 1920, Application filed April 15, 1919. Serial No. 290,221.

Referring to the drawingsv .in detail,

wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding cates the improved wind mill, which includes a tower 2 of the ordinary or any preferred construction, which as shown includes the upwardly extending converged posts 3 sectional view showing v parts throughout the several views,1the numeral-1 generally indiprovided with cross bars-4 which serve to suitably brace the structure. 7 The upper terminals of the posts 3 support the boxing 5, which rotatablyreoeives the hollow shaft nother object of the invention is to pro-' 6 having a collar 7 formed". thereon, which engages the upper endof the boxing to limit the downward movement of the shaft. shaftand extending radially at right angles to each other are superimposed pairs of arms. 8, which are suitably braced as at 9 to present arigid structure. Thev outer terminals of the arms 8 are provided with bearingswhich rotatably receive the vertical shafts 10 which ,extend above and below the arms 8 and are providedfwith upper and lower vanes 11 and 12. The edges of the lower vane 12 are inclined downwardly so as to conform to the inclination of the tower 2. Each of the shafts 10 has keyed thereto'intermediate the pairs of arms bevel gears '13, which have: therewith bevelgears 14 keyed to meshing the inclined shafts 15 rotat'ably mounted on the upper arms 8. These shafts 15extend inwardly from the shafts l0 and have keyed to the inner endsthereof bevel gears 16 g which mesh with superimposed bevel gears 17, 18, 1'9 and-20fkeyed' to the inner shaft 21, which extends throughth, hollow shaft 6. The inner shaft 21: extends above the hollow shaft and has-secured thereto :the

rudder 22 which forms means for turning the blades 8 and :12 to 'bringithe same in correct position to the wind when the. direction of the wind changes. Thus, it will be seen that an independent gear. is-providedfor each .of the shafts 10 the vanes 11 and 12 carried thereby. The

for 1 positioning vanes are so positioned with relation to each other, as clearly shownin Fig. 2, that while the-vanes carried by .one'shaft are at right tioned around the lower end of the shaftEZl,

' wardly which protrudes below'the outer hollow shaft 6 and the lower end of the same is secured to a collar 24, which is rotatably carried by the shaft. The upper end of the spring is secured to one of the braces 4 and this spring supports the shaft 21 in correct position.

To provide means for positioning the blades or vanes carried by each shaft parallel to each other and to the tail or rudder 15, the gears 17, 18, 19 and -20 are slidably mounted on'theshaft 21 and each have infit in grooves 27 28, 2-9 and 30 formed in the shaft 1. Theuppergroove 30 is formed substantially straight so -21 is raised, no movement will be imparted to the gear '20. The three lower grooves *27, and 29 are cut spirally in the shaft and each have a different inclination, so that when the shaft is raised, the gears 17, 18 and 19 will be rotated through the medium of the lugs carried thereby a certain predetermined distance, which will turn rotate the shafts 15 and answers the shafts 10,.which will "position the vanes carried thereby in parallel relation to each other which will effectively prevent rotation of the :blades around the tower. Each of the gears '17, 18, 19 and 20 have a downwardly extending tubular base 50, which rotatably fits in a roove 51 formed in the upper surface of the gears. The tubular base of-the lowenmostgear is received inia groove 52 formed in the -.up;per surface of the cap 53 secured :to "the hollow shaft 6. The groove 52 is provided with ball bearings :54 so as to permit the o-sh'aft 6 to readily rotate without imparting movement :to the gears.

=A governor 82is1provided so that uniform speed of rotation may be imparted :to' the' hollow shaft when winds of different velocity zare :b'lowing,. and this governor in eludes the vertical shaft 33 suitably jour- '5 naled inibearings carried :by ithe posts 8 and this Shaft has a gear 34 keyed thereto, which meshes with ra 'relatively larlge gear 35 keyed it'd-the lower end iof the hollow shaft 6. The gear 3 4,has pivota'll-y secured thereto :downwardlymxtending arms :36 1 which have :piv-- otally connected thereto weights or :balls 37,

'which :in:t11rn have pivoted thereto downwardlyxentendin-g arms 38, which are piv- .ot-al'ly connected at their lower sends to a sleeve :39 slidably :mounted on the shaft an .outwardlyextending pin 40 extending lugs '26, which slidably' that when the shaft 1 the most eflicienrt and practical;

the sleeve is provided with which is slidably mounted in a slot 41 formed intermediate the terminalsof the lever 42, which has one end thereof pivotally connected asv at 48 to .one of the corner posts-.8 and its opposite end pivotally connected as at 44 to a collar 45 rotatably mounted upon the 1nner shaft'21. Thus it will be seen that when the shaft 6 is rotated by the vanes 11 and 1-2 carried by the shafts 10, the weights Wlll be thrown outwardly by centrifugal force and thus raise the lever 42, which will in turn raise the shaft 21 which will, through the medium of the lugs and grooves 27, 28 and 29, rotate the bevel gears 17, 1 8 and The lower end of 19 and thus vary the angle of the vanes with seen that an improvedwind mill is provided, in which a relatively large area of surface is provided for catching the wind, and which is so constructed, that the weight of the wheel is evenly distributed around the supporting structure.

In practice, 1 have found that the form of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and referred to in the alcove descriptiom as the preferred embodiment, is

yet realizing the conditions concurrent with the adoption *ofmy device will necessarily-vary, I

desire to) emphasize that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required without sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention as set forth. I s Y What I claim as new is:

'1. A wind mill comprising a supporting structure, a hollow-shaft rotatably carried by the supporting structure, a second shaft mounted in the hollow shaft for independent movement, arudder secured to the second 7 shaft, a plurality of outwardly extending arms carried by the hollow shaft, 'a vertical shaft carried by each arm, yanes secured to a the last mentionedshiaftfbevel gearsf'seoured 1? to the last 'inentioned'shaft, bevel-gear secured @to the second amentioned shaft for each oneof said last mentioned shaftsmeans operatlvely conneeting'eac'h one of" the "last mentioned bevel gears "withthe respective 1 shafts carried' by the arms, :and means operated by the -secondgmentioned shaft for 7 moving the vane's i-n parallel relation to each;

other and 1110 the rudder, as-and "f r :fih fi pose specified. 4

2; In a wind mill structure, a hollow shaft, & p r ity of outwardly :extendingyarms 'carried bythe hollow shaft, an ,Iinner shaft 7 carried by the tubularshaft forindependent rotary and sliding movement, avertical shaft 1 carried by each arm, vanes mounted on the last mentioned vertical shaft, and means for varying the angle of the vanes to one another by the sliding movement of the inner shaft.

3. In a wind mill construction, a hollow shaft, a plurality of outwardly extending arms secured to the hollow shaft, a vertical shaft carried by each arm, an inner shaft rotatably and slidably carried by the outer hollow shaft, a plurality of gears secured to the inner shaft, means for operatively connecting the gears to the shaft carried by the vanes, means for raising and lowering the inner shaft, and means for rotating the gears carried by the inner shaft upon sliding movement thereof, as and for the purpose specified.

4. In a wind mill construction, a hollow shaft, a plurality of outwardly extending arms carried by the hollow shaft, a vertical shaft carried by each one of the arms, vanes arms, means for raising and lowering the inner shaft, means for operatively connecting the inner shaft with the gears for causing a certain limited rotation upon movement of the shaft, and a governor connected to the inner sliding shaft to cause the same to raise and lower according to the velocity of the wind, as and for the purpose specified. In testimony whereof I affix my signature 1n presence of two witnesses.

WALTER A. WILSON.

Witnesses:

EARL TAYLOR, J. F. MAVARY. 

